Hamtaro Potter and the Sorcerer's Sunflower
by Blue Da-Ba-Dee
Summary: A Hamtaro parody of Harry Potter, featuring Hamtaro as Harry, Cappy as Neville, ElderHam as Dumbledore, and more! Should actually turn out great. It now has its own forum!
1. The Story Begins

Well, here's the first chapter of my new Harry Potter parody, Hamtaro Potter and the Sorcerer's Sunflower. The Hamtaro Potter series will be based more upon the movies so that they don't take too long. A number of the lines aren't directly from the movies, but some are, and some chapters are slightly different from the scenes in the movies. I'll also use some Ham-Chat, like Perskie, Hif-hif, Ticki-ticki, and stuff like that. Some of the Ham-Hams won't be used until later installments. For instance, you won't be seeing Panda or Pashmina until the fourth, Food Dish of Flame, but they'll get fairly important roles. Oh yes, and as for future Hamtaro Potter-ness, I believe you should look for them in this order: Sorcerer's Sunflower, Tunnel of Mystery, Prisoner of Catskaban, Food Dish of Flame, Order of the Crow, The Non-Purebred Prince, and none of us know what the seventh shall be called just yet.

Now, without further ado, I present to you... Hamtaro Potter and the Sorcerer's Sunflower!

-----

An elderly-looking gray hamster crept down a human sidewalk. The hamster had a long, fluffy gray beard and eyebrows to match. He was also wearing a purple wizard hat. Then he stopped. The hamster held his cane in the air. The light from every street lamp nearby was sucked into the tip. When the old hamster finished, he heard a mew. He looked to his side and saw a small gray cat. "I should've known you would be here..." He smirked. "...Professor Catty."

The cat stepped forward and transformed into a hamster wearing a black witch hat. "Good evening, Professor."

The male hamster kept walking with the other gray hamster behind him. "Boss should be arriving soon," he said.

The other hamster, Catty, spoke nervously. "Do you think it wise to trust Boss with something as important as this?"

There was only snoring. The older hamster was standing still with a snot bubble coming out of his nose.

"Professor Elder-Ham!" Catty poked his snot bubble with her wand.

Elder-Ham glanced around apprehensively. "What? What?"

Catty repeated her question.

"Ah, Catty. I would trust Boss with my life."

Then the two heard a whirring sound. They looked back and into the sky. A shiny silver dot was getting bigger and bigger. When it came close enough, it turned out to be a large beige and black hamster running on a flying cage wheel. The wheel struck the floor and the hamster inside jerked it sideways to keep it from rolling away. However, it ended up smashing into a mailbox. The beige and black Boss stepped onto the pavement carrying a small bundle. "I'm alright, Professors Elder-Ham and Catty!" Elder-Ham and Catty approached him. "The little tyke fell asleep just as we were going over the Ham-Ham Games stadium." He handed the object he was carrying to Elder-Ham.

All three hamsters climbed onto a human doorstep. "Are you sure you want to leave him with these people?" Catty asked, "They're the worst sort of Gerbils imaginable. They really are..."

"The only family he has," Elder-Ham finished.

"There will be books about him. There won't be a child, hamster or human, in the world who doesn't know his name!"

"Exactly. He's far better of growing up away from all of that." Elder-Ham set the bundle, containing a tiny orange and white baby hamster, down. "Until he is ready."

Boss sniffed loudly. His eyes were getting teary. "Now, Boss," Elder-Ham comforted, "It's not really goodbye after all."

The giant hamster nodded and sniffed again. Professor Elder-Ham placed a note next to the baby and muttered, "Good luck... Hamtaro."

-----

I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you this; in this world, hamsters can talk to humans, live as long as humans, and their human owners can transform into hamsters. This allows hamsters to go places humans go and do what they do. Also vice versa.

Now we skip into the future. At this time, Hamtaro was older and he was a handsome white hamster with orange fur spreading from his forehead to his back. If you were to push aside some of the fur on his forehead, you would notice a scar. More aptly, three scars lined up side by side, like a claw mark left by a cat. He lived with his aunt, a skinny gray hamster called Flower; his cousin, a fat brown individual named Horace; and his uncle, a dusty yellow hamster named Morton who was really a human, but chose to remain in hamster form so that he wouldn't get strange looks and comments for having married a hamster. Not that he was the only one.

Hamtaro was curled up in his sparse hamster bedding under a pile of woodchips one morning when he heard a banging on the closet door, as he slept in the closet. "Wake up!" Flower growled, "Now!" She scratched the door a couple times, and then left.

The orange hamster yawned and stretched out. He knew, most terribly, that it was Horace's birthday. Then came an even louder banging. Hamtaro figured it was Horace using Tack-Q on the closet. He heard his cousin's obnoxious voice yell, "Wake up, Hamtaro, we're going to the zoo!"

Dust and a few strings of spider web rained down from the rafters. Reluctantly, Hamtaro left his poor excuse for a bedroom and entered the kitchen. He opened a cabinet and reached for a bowl of seeds. "Get us our breakfast and don't drop anything," Flower hissed, "Everything has to be perfect for Horace's birthday."

"Yes, Aunt Flower." Horace was always the "perfect" one, Hamtaro thought, even though it was the little orange one who did all the work. It always seemed like something was wrong with him.

"Seeds!" Morton barked.

Hamtaro carried the bowl to the table and put it down. "Yes, Uncle Morton," he said quickly.

Flower led Horace to an excessively high pile of gifts. Hamtaro sighed. Even a perfectly nice hamster kid shouldn't get that many presents from his parents alone in one day. He tried to tune it out as the rotund brown hamster screamed about how it wasn't enough. After everyone had their fill of seeds and Trail Mix except for Hamtaro, the four went outside, which required them all standing on each others' shoulders to reach the doorknob. Then they all headed to the curb and got inside a hamster-sized car. In a world where hamsters were practically humans, just a different size and race, things like houses, vehicles, and toys had to be made in hamster sizes.

Hamtaro was just about to slide in when he was stopped by Morton. "I'm warning you," he hissed, "If anything strange happens, don't think I won't know who caused it. Now get in."

The four hamsters were now at their destination. Mind you, this wasn't strange, as since hamsters are similar to humans here, they weren't the only hamsters who liked to go to the zoo. Not that Horace actually "liked" it. They were at the Reptile House, staring at a huge snake that could easily swallow the in one gulp. It was coiled up, motionless. "Make him move," Horace groaned.

They knocked the glass a couple times and were stopped when Hamtaro decided to yell, "He's sleeping!"

Horace sighed and walked away, followed by his parents. Hamtaro leaned against the glass. "It must be really boring sitting in a cage all the time watching humans watch you with little rodents who you'd probably rather eat."

The snake nodded.

The orange hamster's big, sparkly eyes widened. "Do you Perskie?"

He nodded again.

"Wow, I've never talked to a snake before! Do you usually talk to hamsters like me?"

This time the snake shook his head.

Hamtaro, eager to make a conversation, looked at the sign next to the exhibit. It read, "Brazilian Python." "So you're from..." Hamtaro tried to pronounce the word. "...Brazilia? I mean, Brazil? What was it like?"

The snake pointed at the sign again. Hamtaro noticed that right below the species name, it said, "Bred in captivity."

"So that means that you've always lived here, right? I know what it's like. I never met my parents, either."

Suddenly, he felt himself being knocked to the ground and heard Horace squeal, "Mommy, Daddy, come here! Look at what the snake's doing!" The chubby brown hamster flattened his snout against the window to the exhibit.

Hamtaro glared at his cousin. Then Horace yelped and fell through the glass. Scratch that, the glass was gone! The snake started slithering forward. Horace trembled, but the giant reptile didn't seem to be in the moon for a meal and squeezed through the hole where the glass once was. He looked at Hamtaro. "Thank-Q," he hissed, "Is that the right word you hamsters use?"

"Yeah... and your welcome!"

The python slithered to the exit. Everyone screamed and jumped out of the way, especially the hamster visitors, which greatly amused Hamtaro. He was even more amused when Horace tried to climb out only to find that the glass was back. The fat hamster and Flower, who had just arrived, flew into a panic. Morton stared at Hamtaro with a hateful expression.

-----

Back home, when Flower and Horace weren't around, Morton turned into a human for the first time all month and grabbed Hamtaro by the scruff of the neck. "What happened!" he bellowed.

"I... I don't know!" the hamster screamed, "The glass was there, but then it was gone, you know, like magic!"

Morton thrust Hamtaro into his cage and shut the closet door. He locked it and hissed those six words I haven't changed at all: "There's no such thing as magic!" Then Hamtaro was left in the dark.


	2. You Got Mail

Wow, I didn't expect only the first chapter to get so many reviews! Now it's time to answer them.

Iamthenewcliche: Glad you like it! And I'll try to keep that advice in mind. I'll check out your fanfic as soon as I can!

Unknows One: Alright, here! I'm continuing! evil laugh

Ham-Kelly: Yeah, Harry Potter rocks!

Sparkleshine101: I'll try to keep adding new chapters quickly.

Mimitchi-Pudding: I absolutely love parodies...

Dbzgtfan2004: Of course, I'll pounce on the upcoming Harry Potter book and movies the week they come out.

Tehrandomkitten: That's right, Hammy does sound more like Harry, but we sure wouldn't want our favorite orange furball getting eaten in a sandwich!

-----

A couple days later, Flower had let Hamtaro out to get the mail. Since he couldn't open the door by himself, he went outside through a half-opened window. He couldn't help wondering why they lived in a human house when the one human who lived in it preferred to be a hamster. Living in a hamster-sized home would save them a lot of trouble. With some difficulty he climbed to the top of the mailbox and undid a latch. It swung open and the hamster jumped inside. At least their mail was hamster sized.

After leaping from the mailbox and nearly spraining his paw, Hamtaro went inside, holding the letters in his cheek pouched while he climbed through the window. He jumped from the windowsill onto the sofa. He bounced and the letters were jolted out of his mouth. Hamtaro groaned and started to pick them back up. Then he gasped as he noticed one addressed to "Hamtaro the Hamster, The Cage in the Closet..." Hey, why bother reading the address? It was for him, after all, how many hamsters called Hamtaro could there be out there?

Hamtaro held his letter in one paw and the rest in the other, he went to the dining table, where his family was waiting for their mail. He placed the letters in his right paw on the table and started to open his own. Horace suddenly jerked it out of Hamtaro's paw. "Hey, look! Hamtaro's got a letter!" he screamed, waving it around.

"Give it back! It's mine!"

"Oh, who'd be writing to you?" Morton chuckled, taking the letter. Flower came and looked at it. That's when the two noticed the seal on the envelope. It showed a coat of arms. On it were a cat, a raccoon, a crow, and a snake. They stared at each other and didn't give the letter back.

The next day, Hamtaro found a small pile of letters that had been slid under the door, which were again confiscated. Later he saw Morton super-gluing a sheet of metal to the crack under the door, leaving virtually no space for someone to slip a couple of layers of paper through. Yet another day later, the yellowish hamster had to chase away a variety of birds that had gathered outside. The next time Hamtaro saw his uncle, he was shredding several envelopes with his rodent teeth.

-----

"Fine day, Sunday," said Morton next week, "In my opinion, best day of the week. Why is that, Horace?"

Horace shrugged and Hamtaro decided to answer. "'Cause we don't get mail on Sundays?"

"Right you are, Hamtaro! No post on Sundays." He chuckled. "No blasted letters today! No sir! Not one!" As he was gloating, a letter fluttered in through the window, which was open a crack. "Not one blasted little..." The envelope flew into Morton's face. The eyes of everyone in the house widened when the building started trembling.

Suddenly, letters were flying from just about everywhere. The shot through the window crack and from the fireplace and were just starting to rain down from the staircase to the second floor. They even blew away the metal blocking the crack under the door. Ecstatic, Hamtaro snatched one and headed for his cage in the closet, but just as he was opening the door, someone grabbed his paw and pulled him back. It was Morton. "They're my letters!" yelled Hamtaro, "Let go of me!"

As the two hamsters were getting buried under a pile of mail, Morton yelled, "THAT'S IT! We're going away! FAR away! Where they can't find us!"

-----

Now the family was living in a rusty old hamster cage situated on a rock in the middle of a lake. It was raining hard and the only thing that kept their wood shavings for bedding dry was a towel draped over the cage that was even starting to get drenched through. Today, however, was slightly different. It was Hamtaro's birthday, not that his family cared. He was now eleven. In the layered dust below the cage's bedding when the others were asleep, he traced something he rather longed for; a sunflower seed cake with icing made from millet. With his tiny claws, he drew eleven lines to represent candles. "Make a wish, Hamtaro," he said to himself, as no one else would. Then he blew and the drawing was erased.

Suddenly, there was a loud thumping. It woke the other three hamsters up and Morton came holding a broken cage bar. There was more thumping until finally, the cage door fell off. A large, shadowy figure entered. It turned out to be... a beige hamster with black markings. "Sorry about that," he said.

The hamster pointed the shovel he was carrying at a small mound of woodchips. Sparks flew from the metal, lighting the wood on fire. "I'm warning you!" Morton called, "You are breaking and entering!"

The huge hamster growled, "Oh, come off it, fatso." He grabbed the cage bar, snapped it in half, and tossed the pieces into a corner. Then he turned to face Horace. "Who am I to judge, since I haven't seen you since you were a baby, Hamtaro, but seriously, you're fatter than I expected."

"I-I'm not... Hamtaro."

The hamster he was looking for stood up. "I... I am."

"Well, of course you are! Here, I made this for you." He held out a box. "I think I might've sat on it a little while ago, but it should taste fine all the same."

Hamtaro opened the box, revealing that it contained a sunflower seed cake with millet icing! On it in icing of a different color were the sloppily written words, "Happy Birthday, Hamtaro!"

"Thanks!" The orange hamster put the cake in a corner.

"By the way, I'm Boss, the one and only groundskeeper of Hamwarts."

"Hamwarts?"

Boss stared at him. "Geez, Hamtaro, didn't you ever wonder where your mom and dad learned it all?"

Hamtaro cocked his head. "Heke?"

The large hamster bent down a little bit. "You're a Ham-Wizard, Hamtaro."

"I... I'm a WHAT?"

"A Ham-Wizard, and I bet with practice at Hamwarts you'll be a really good one!" He handed Hamtaro a letter identical to the ones Morton was constantly disposing of.

Hamtaro opened the envelope and read the note inside aloud. "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hamwarts, School of Rodent Witchcraft and Ham-Magic!"

"He will not be going!" Morton snapped.

"You mean you already knew but you didn't tell me?" asked Hamtaro, looking up from the letter.

"Of course we knew!" hissed Flower, pacing, "How could we not, my perfect sister being who she was? Mom and dad always talked about her, all, 'Omigosh! One of our daughters is a Ham-Mage! How terrific!' I was the only one who knew she was just a freak, and then she got herself blown up, and that's how we got stuck with you!"

"Heke! 'Blown up?' You said that my parents were eaten by a cat!"

"A CAT!" Boss roared, "A cat kill Blossom and Lemur! No way! That's outrageous, impossible, humiliating..."

While Boss was ranting, Morton repeated, "He will not be going!"

Boss stopped. "Oh yeah, right, a Gerbil like you is really going to stop him!" he chuckled.

"Gerbil? He's a human who likes being a hamster."

"It's what we Ham-Mages call people who can't do magic." Then he looked back at Morton. "This guy was supposed to be a Ham-Wizard ever since he was born! He's going to the finest school of Rodent Witchcraft and Ham-Magic under the greatest headmaster that Hamwarts has ever had: the Wise Elder-Ham!"

"I'm not paying to have some ancient rodent teach him magic tricks!" the yellow hamster yelled.

Boss pointed his shovel threateningly at Morton and Flower. "Don't you dare insult Elder-Ham in front of me," he hissed. Then he turned around. Horace was engorging himself on Hamtaro's cake. Boss flicked his shovel at the fat brown hamster and suddenly, his tail elongated and became extra fluffy at the tip. His tail turned into that of a REAL gerbil.

Morton and Flower screamed. When Horace noticed, he did too. The other family member laughed. "Please don't tell Hamwarts what I did," whispered Boss, "I'm not allowed to do magic."

Hamtaro promised not to tell.


	3. Into the Magical World

Hamtaro and Boss were walking through a street. Hamtaro held a hunk of cake in one paw and the letter from Hamwarts in the other, which he read aloud. "Krmp," he grunted, taking a bite out of the piece of cake, and then he continued reading. "All new Mages will need... these books..." He pointed to the list of books. "...a stone cauldron, a quill and ink, and a wand. Students can also bring a bird, a tame kitten, or a small frog. This includes tadpoles. A kitten?" he asked nervously.

"Oh, that!" Boss chuckled, "Don't worry, they're trained not to eat meat."

"Are you sure we can find all of these here?"

"If you know where to go."

The hamsters entered a building with a sign above the door reading, "The Bullfrog Pond." It was a bar packed with hamsters, most of which were wearing black robes. Hamtaro knew who they were. It didn't take a genius to find out they were Ham-Mages. The two of them walked past the bartender, who smiled and said, "Hey, Boss! Would you like a glass of carrot juice?"

"I'm sorry, I can't right now. I'm on official Hamwarts business and I'm helping this little guy here buy school supplies." The giant hamster motioned towards Hamtaro.

The bartender gasped. "Holy Sunflowers, it's Hamtaro!"

The entire bar, a moment ago full of movement and conversation, stayed still. All eyes were on Hamtaro. An older hamster stood in front of them as they headed for the back of the pub. He said something about how unbelievable it was to meet him, "him" being Hamtaro, and another hamster who introduced herself as Peach said something similar.

And then they were greeted by a hamster with long, bedraggled dun-or grayish brown-fur. The most unusual thing about him was his tail, which was very fluffy and longer than his body. The tip covered his head like a hat and some of his fur got into his eyes. "H-Hamtaro!" he squeaked, stopping to erupt in chattering noises similar to those of a certain other rodent, "I'm so..." –he was chattering again- "...Pleased to meet you!"

"Well, this guy's Professor Squirrel," introduced Boss, "Yes, he's really a hamster. He's a teacher at Hamwarts."

Squirrel nodded. He spoke again, punctuating every sentence with a chattering fit. "Defense Against the Dark Arts. 'Course, you probably don't need it."

He fell back into his own squirrel-talking world and Hamtaro and Boss continued through the back door into an alley. "Could I try a bite of that cake?" Boss asked.

Hamtaro nodded and held out his piece of cake, which Boss bit into with a "Paka." "Not bad," he commented, "though it tastes a little like gerbils. Real ones. Not to mention a tiny bit of saliva."

The orange hamster chuckled. "That's probably because Horace bit into that end." Boss grimaced as though he wished he hadn't eaten a crumb of it. "But Boss, why is it that all those hamsters in the bar knew who I am?"

"I'm not sure I'm the right Ham-Ham to tell you that, Hamtaro."

Boss took out his shovel and tapped the brick wall in the back of the alley with it in certain places. The bricks he touched slid inwards and the wall opened like a door that led to a totally different street. Hamtaro looked around, awestruck. There were pet shops with birds and what Hamtaro guessed were hamkittens, broomsticks and shops that sold "Sky-Scavenge" gear, not that the Ham-Ham knew what that meant, and just about everything else you could think of for a hamster magician to have. Hamtaro looked at his list again. "But how am I supposed to pay for this? I don't have any money!"

"Well, there's you money!" Boss pointed to a large white building at the end of the street. "Batsclaws, the Ham-Mage bank! There's no safer place, not one, except maybe Hamwarts."

When they reached Batsclaws and went inside, Hamtaro felt uneasy noticing the animals working inside resembling shriveled hamsters with wing for arms. "Um, Boss, what are these?" he asked.

"They're bats Hamtaro. More specifically, Mexican Free-tailed Bats and False Vampire Bats. They're real smart, but not all that friendly. Better stay close."

"Hey, no food that can leave crumbs in here!" a bat screeched.

Hamtaro squealed and shoved the rest of his cake into his cheek pouches.

The two hamsters stood at a counter with a particularly large-fanged individual writing something behind it. "'Scuse me, sir! Mr. Hamtaro here would like to make a withdrawal!"

The bat gave a small grow and stood up. He leaned over the counter, glaring at the small orange hamster. "And does Mr. Hamtaro have his key?"

"What? Um, I got it right here!" Boss took off the yellow hat Hamtaro somehow only just noticed him wearing. He pulled out a rock which must've been used to hold the key in place. He threw the rock onto the counter and the bat thanked him for the paperweight. Then the large hamster picked up a key. "Here!" He held it out. "There's the little devil." Boss then revealed an envelope. "That's from Professor Elder-Ham." His voice dropped to a whisper. "It's about the you-know-what. In vault... you-know-which."

"Very well," the bat muttered, narrowing his eyes.

The hamsters and the bat boarded a mine cart and zoomed down a track at such a speed Hamtaro felt like the air alone was going to knock the cake out of his stomach. It would've knocked the cake out of his cheek pouches if he hadn't swallowed his birthday pastry when they went on. And then their speed decreased until it was safe to make a sudden stop, which they did. "Vault Seed-Flower-Leaf!"

They exited onto a platform. On the wall was a giant vault. "Lamp, please," said the bat. Boss handed him a lantern. "Key, please." The hamster gave him the key. "Stand back!"

The bat inserted the key in a hole shaped like the head of a hamster with a triangle out of their right ear. There was a series of clicking and whirring noises, and then the vault opened. Inside were heaps of seed shells. "Didn't think your mom and dad would leave you with nothing, did you?" Boss chuckled.

After another short mine cart ride, they were facing another vault, which the bat said was vault Leaf-Rock-Acorn. Inside this one was a small package. It appeared to be a piece of a paper bag tied with a blade of grass. Hamtaro was very curious about the contents, but Boss had acted like it was a huge secret, which it probably was.


	4. TheHamHamWhoMustn'tBeSpoken

Well, it's time for another chapter, all! I've started a Hamtaro Potter forum here in the Hamtaro category, by the way. And no, Bijou won't be Hermione. I'll let you see who will for yourselves!

-----

In a little while, Hamtaro had everything he needed except for one little thing. "I still need..." The hamster glanced at his list. "...a wand."

"Paka," Boss muttered.

"Boss?" Hamtaro looked and saw that Boss was holding a piece of cake. "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, um..." The bigger hamster looked at his pastry. "I was keeping it in my hat. That wasn't a rock I took out of my hat, it was a rock-shaped box I was hiding the cake in."

Hamtaro chuckled a little. "But where am I going to get a wand?"

Boss pointed to a shop up ahead. "That's Mr. Furball's shop. He makes and sells wands. Go ahead in, there's something I have to do before we go."

The new Ham-Wizard went in by himself. He looked around. The inside of the shop was very dusty and the walls were lined with shelves, each crammed with what looked like elongated shoeboxes. "Hello?" he called. There was no answer. "Hamha!" he said louder.

A fluffy white hamster resembling a cotton ball suddenly appeared. Hamtaro jumped. "I was wondering when I'd be seeing you, little Hamtaro," the hamster, obviously Mr. Furball, said quietly, "It seems only yesterday that you mother and father were in here buying their first wands." Furball took a box from the shelf and produced a wand, which he handed to Hamtaro, and then stood staring. Hamtaro did the same. "Give it a wave!" yelled Furball.

Hamtaro nodded once and waved the wand. There was a "ding" sound, but nothing else happened... or so it seemed. The longhaired hamster walked behind Hamtaro and pointed. When the latter looked, he noticed that the tiny orange dot next to his tail had turned purple. Furball flicked his wand and it changed back to normal. "Apparently not," he muttered, taking the wand back. He went back to the shelves and came back with a different wand. "Perhaps this."

Once again, Hamtaro nodded. He swished it around in a small circle and then... a bouncy-ball fell from the ceiling, meowing when it hit the ground. "No, definitely not!" Furball rolled the ball to the back of the store and then looked for a different wand. Hamtaro heard him mutter, "Could it be...?" but Furball showed him a new wand anyway.

The orange hamster, hoping that this one would work, twirled it. It felt like wind was blowing through his fur, giving him a nice feeling, and he seemed to glow pink. Hamtaro looked at his wand excitedly. "Curious," Furball muttered, "very curious."

"Sorry, but what's curious?" asked Hamtaro, looking up.

"The wand chooses the Ham-Wizard, little Hamtaro. It's not always clear why, but it just so happens that the peacock whose tail feather resides in your wand gave another feather." Furball held up one claw. "Just one other. It's curious that you should be destined for this wand when its brother... gave you that scar."

Hamtaro raised his paw and touched his forehead where the claw mark-shaped scar was. "Um, just asking, who owned that wand?"

"We do not speak his name," Furball continued ominously, "but it is for sure that we can expect great things from you, for the Ham-Ham-Who-Mustn't-Be-Spoken did great things. Terrible things," he added, "but great."

Hamtaro was glad when he heard a tap on the window that broke the silence. "Hamtaro!" Boss called through the glass, "Happy Birthday!" The giant hamster was holding a cage containing a pretty green parakeet.

-----

Hamtaro and Boss had stopped for lunch before leaving the market, which according to Boss was called Crystal Seed Alley. For a while they were fairly quiet until the former had swallowed a mouthful of his salad. "He... he killed my mom and dad, didn't he? The one who gave me this?" He tapped the scar on his forehead. "I'll bet a hamster wheel that you know!"

Boss looked up and gulped. "Well, first, get this, Hamtaro... not all mages are good. There are some who go to the Dark Side."

"Heke?"

"Yeah, that's right, the Dark Side. You know, like Darth Vadehare or General Scurius. Wait a second, I wasn't supposed to be talking about Star Woods, so anyway. That's not just any, everyday, normal scratch on your forehead. One like that only comes from being hit by a curse. Make that a really, really evil curse. There was one Ham-Mage a while back who went as bad as you can go and his name was S... His name was S-S..."

"Maybe you should write it down," Hamtaro suggested.

"Nah, you won't be able to read it. Okay..." Boss whispered straight in Hamtaro's ear. "Spat."

"Spat?" Hamtaro echoed.

Boss abruptly started gagging on his stir-fry. "Coughcoughcough (I'm choking!) Coughcoughcough!" A hamster walking by hit him in the back with a chair. "Cough... Thanks! Anyway, don't use his name!" Boss paused to take a few deep breaths, and then continued. "These were dark times, Hamtaro, dark times! Spat started to gather a few followers. Anyone who stood up to him was... well..." He dragged a claw across his throat. "Nobody lived when he decided to kill them." Hamtaro had started having a very creepy daydream of a cloaked Ham-Ham entering a home and attacking a couple of hamsters with a very evil-looking spell that created a flash of green light. Then the hamster aimed his wand at a tiny ball of creamy fur. "Not one," muttered Boss, bringing him back to reality, "except you."

"Spat was trying to kill... me!" Hamtaro squealed.

"Yeah. But something about you stumped him that night. What was it? Even I don't know, but nobody saw him after."

"And what happened to... You-Know-Who?"

Boss shrugged. "Well, some say he died. I say that's total baloney. Yeah... I think he's hiding out there somewhere, biding his time... until he's ready."

Hamtaro felt his eye twitch slightly.


	5. Ox, Spice, and Tiger

At last, the part you've all been waiting for! This is when Ron, Hermione, and Draco are introduced and Harry enters Hogwarts! Some of it might also include a small hint as to who will be playing who in Food Dish of Flame. Well, I guess you just want me to get on with it, so here's the new chapter!

-----

"Alright, the platform for the Hamwarts Express should be around here." The two hamsters were now at the train station, looking for the train just mentioned by Boss, with Hamtaro pushing a trolley the size of a young turtle carrying his luggage. Then Boss looked at a clock close to the ceiling. "Wait, is that really the time? Sorry, Hamtaro, I'd best be off. Elder-Ham will be wanting his..." Boss paused. "Well, he'll be wanting to see me." He handed Hamtaro a tiny, hamster-sized ticket. "Here's your ticket. That's the thing, Hamtaro, just stick to your ticket. Bye-Q!"

Hamtaro looked at his ticket and read the platform number under his breath. "Nine and Four-Fifths." He spoke louder. "Boss, this says Platform Nine and Four-Fifths. There isn't one, is there?" But when he looked up, he saw that the giant hamster had already left.

After wandering around for a little while around platforms Nine and Ten, he decided to stop and ask for directions. He noticed a human porter talking to a beige hamster. When she left, Hamtaro asked, "Sorry, do you know where I can get to Platform Nine and Four-Fifths?"

"Nine and Four-Fifths?" the human repeated, "I'm not here to joke around. Hamsters..."

Hamtaro didn't hear the rest of what he was saying, for a hamster saying rather loudly, "It's the same every year! Absolutely full of Gerbils! Come on!"

The word "Gerbils" stood out. They're mages, Hamtaro thought, and I bet they know where the platform is! He followed the speaker, who had five hamsters following her, and they stopped near one of the barriers. The hamster who had spoken earlier, a glasses-sporting brown and white one, motioned at the barrier. "Alright, Omar, you first."

One of her Ham-Ham caravan, who had a blue turban, fur similar to hers, and squinted eyes, pushed his trolley straight for the wall. Hamtaro gasped when both rodent and cart disappeared into it. "Alright, Howdy, you next!"

Howdy, another squint-eyed hamster with brown and white fur who was wearing an apron, was about to start rolling when a gray individual with glasses dashed ahead of him. "I'll race you!" he called over his shoulder.

"Dexter, come back here!" the female hamster yelled, but the two of them had already vanished. The two remaining besides her were a somewhat fat white hamster with gray spots and a petite white one with her hair in pigtails tied by two blue bows. She didn't have a trolley, so she was probably a little younger than the others.

Hamtaro thought he could reveal himself now. "'Scuse me," he asked, "How do you..."

"How do you get on the platform?" the glasses-wearing one finished, "Don't worry, it's Oxnard's first time, too! All you have to do is head straight for the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten!" She added in a whisper, "You should do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous."

"Good luck," the small white-furred girl said quietly. She seemed to have a French accent.

Taking a deep breath, Hamtaro rolled toward the barrier. His little paws moved faster and faster. Soon he was just a couple of inches away. He got himself ready to pull back to reduce impact, but he didn't need to; he, like those other three Ham-Hams, melted through the wall and found himself in what looked like a totally different train station. Hamsters were everywhere, some wearing black robes. A large red and black train waited in the tracks. Astounded, Hamtaro boarded.

-----

Hamtaro was sitting in a compartment by himself. The train had started and he was looking out a window, which was open a crack, and observing the passing scenery. "Um, is it okay if I sit here?" a nasally voice asked. It was the gray-spotted hamster from earlier. "Everywhere else is taken."

"Of course!" Hamtaro chirped.

The spotted hamster sat down across from Hamtaro. "By the way, my name's Oxnard."

"I'm Hamtaro."

Oxnard's eyes widened. "So it's true!" he gasped, "I mean, do you really have the... the..."

The orange hamster cocked his head. "The what?"

His new friend glanced around anxiously. "The scar?" Hamtaro smiled and pushed aside some of the fur on his forehead, revealing the claw mark-like formation of his scratches. Oxnard stared. "Awesome!"

A tan-furred lady with a cart covered in sweets stopped outside their door. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked.

"Oh, no thanks, I'm all set." Oxnard held up a single sunflower seed, which he looked at with an expression that said, "I only have this one seed, and I'm holding onto it, so I guess I'm going to starve, since I'd love to buy some of your candy, but I don't have any money."

Hamtaro, reading his expression, said, "We'll take all of it!" He held out a pawful of seed shells. Oxnard looked at them and gasped.

Now Hamtaro and Oxnard were sitting next to each other with a large pile of candy between them. Oxnard had what looked like a tiny shrew on his lap. Hamtaro picked up a small box containing jellybeans. "Ham and Egg's Every-Flavor Jellybeans," Hamtaro read aloud.

"They really mean every flavor!" warned Oxnard, "There are really good ones like millet and strawberry, but there are also ones like cat hair, bedding, and rainwater. Dexter says he even had a dog drool-flavored one once!"

Hamtaro promptly spat out the bean he was eating and put down the box. He thought he'd try something safer and grabbed the first box that touched his paw. He read the label, "Chocolate Crickets." "These aren't real crickets, are they?" Hamtaro asked cautiously.

"It's just a spell," replied Oxnard through a mouthful of candy, "Another great thing about them is that..." He swallowed. "Each one has a famous Ham-Mage card. Me, I have like five hundred."

Smiling, Hamtaro opened the box and reached down for the lifelike cricket inside, when it suddenly came alive, flicking its antennae. "Watch it!" Oxnard yelped, but it was too late. The chocolate cricket had already jumped out the crack in the window. "Oh, that really stinks," groaned Oxnard as Hamtaro looked at his Ham-Mage card.

The card featured a hamster who was different shades of gray with long eyebrows and a longer beard. A tiny banner below the picture read, "The Wise Elder-Ham." "I got Elder-Ham!" Hamtaro looked up from his card at Oxnard.

"I'm pretty sure I have six of him."

When the orange Ham-Ham looked down, the card was almost blank. "Hey, he's gone!"

"What? You can't think he'll stick around all day!" Oxnard chuckled. Then he pointed to the shrew on his lap. Its head was stuck inside an empty jellybean container. "This is Snapper, by the way. Isn't he pathetic?"

Hamtaro smirked. "Just a tiny bit."

"Howdy gave me a spell to turn him blue. Want to see?" Hamtaro nodded and Oxnard took out his wand. He cleared his throat. "Blue..."

The incantation was interrupted by a brown and cream Ham-Ham girl looking through the compartment door. Her fur was in braids tied with red ribbons on the sides of her head. She was also wearing a red bandana in addition to black Hamwarts robes. "Have you seen a tadpole wearing a green hat? A boy named Cappy lost his." Both the boys shook their heads. Then the girl noticed Oxnard's wand. "Are you doing magic? Let's see, then!"

Oxnard began to wave his wand. "Blueberries, match the color of this shrew, I want to see his fur turn blue!" he said, pointing his wand at Snapper.

There was a brief and somewhat dim flash and the box was jolted off of Snapper's head, but his fur stayed dark brown. "Are you sure that's a real spell?" the girl asked, "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few small ones, but they all worked for me. Here's one." She sat across from Hamtaro and aimed her own wand at a small bald patch on his arm. "Furrius Restoratum," she muttered. The fur immediately sprouted back. Then she realized something. "Holy Rabbits, you're Hamtaro! I'm Pepper. And you are...?" She looked at the gray-spotted hamster, who was gnawing a chocolate cricket.

"Um, I'm Oxnard."

"Pleasure." Pepper stood up and stayed in the doorway of the compartment. "Well, you two should start changing into your robes. We should be arriving soon." She took a couple steps outside, but then turned back. "You have dirt on your snout, by the way," she said to Oxnard, pointing at the side of her own. "Right there."

Oxnard tapped the spot she was referring to. "That's just one of my spots!" he concluded.

"Oops, sorry." With that, Pepper left.

-----

The train arrived at Hamwarts once the sun went down. The Ham-Hams – or at least the observant ones – saw that they were on the edge of a huge lake, which to a human would be the size of a large koi pond. On an island in the middle was a giant castle, which must've been the school. Boss showed them to wooden boats at the shore. Each one had a lantern glowing bright in the middle. The hamsters rowed across the lake, marveling at the beauty of Hamwarts at it became closer.

Before too long, they entered the school and began climbing a staircase. At the top, a gray female hamster wearing green robes was waiting in front of a set of double doors. She was Prof. Catty. "Now," she said, "In a moment, you will be walking through these doors and entering Hamwarts. But before you can be taught magic, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Kitty-Paw, Fluffy-Fur, Chirpy-Wing, and Snaky-Scale."

At the name Snaky-Scale, a male hamster with tiger stripes who had been laughing at the house names suddenly smirked at a boy with sand-colored fur next to him.

"While at Hamwarts," the professor went on, "your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule-breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Golden Seed."

There was a splashing noise. In a puddle at Catty's paws was a tadpole wearing a green cap, splashing around. "Sombrero!" a white brown-eared hamster wearing a matching cap exclaimed. He dashed forward and snatched up the tadpole named Sombrero. Catty gave him a stern look and he backed into the crowd, muttering, "Sorry."

"The sorting shall begin shortly. Good luck," Catty finished. She disappeared through the doors.

After a moment's silence, the striped hamster Hamtaro had noticed earlier spoke. "Well, it looks like it's true, then!" he said, "What they were saying on the train; Hamtaro's come to Hogwarts." Clearly speaking to Hamtaro, he continued. "This is Scrabble..." He gestured at the sand-colored hamster. "...and Growl." He motioned toward a dusty gray hamster. "And my name..." The boy stood in front of Hamtaro. "...is Stan." He said "Stan" like he was the only person in the world with that name.

Oxnard hardly held back a chuckle. "You think my name's funny?" Stan growled, glaring at Oxnard, "Well I don't have to ask yours. Judging by the way your robes are all dusty and..." He leaned forward with a whisper of "hif-hif." "...the way you smell, I bet you're one of Kana's hamsters." Stan faced Hamtaro again. "Well, you're going to learn that some mage families are better than others. You don't want to go around making friends with the wrong ones." He glared viciously at Oxnard at "wrong." "I can help you with that." Stan held out his paw.

Hamtaro didn't take it. He took a breath and said, "Thanks, but I can figure out the wrong ones by myself."

Stan scowled and returned to his original place in the crowd. Just a few moments later, the doors opened and the Ham-Hams entered a huge hall with four long tables. There were more off to the side where the teachers were sitting. Each of the table was covered with plates of all sizes that were all empty. Pepper was pointing up at the ceiling, which looked exactly like the night sky, explaining that it was a special spell. Professor Catty was standing on an elevated area beside a stool. "Your attention," she called. Everyone was silent. "Professor Elder-Ham has a few words for you."

The sleepy-looking gray hamster that was on Hamtaro's card stood up from behind a large table. "Well, I'd like to announce for our caretaker, Mr. Flick, that the Forest of Frogs is strictly forbidden to all students." Mr. Flick was a chocolate brown hamster with a kitten who looked almost exactly like him. He went on, "I would also like to announce that the third-floor corridor is forbidden to all who do not wish to die a most painful death." There was a long silence. Most of the Great Hall, even those who'd probably been at Hamwarts for a while, suddenly looked as if they were going to yell something. Elder-Ham finished with, "Thank you."

Catty unrolled a scroll. "It is time for the sorting to begin." She looked at the scroll and announced, "A brown female hamster with a red bandana and braids named Pepper!"

Pepper nervously climbed onto the platform. "Really," Oxnard whispered to Hamtaro, "That Ham-Ham's mental, weird, however you want to say it!" Hamtaro nodded.

Professor Catty placed a green hat on her head. Cappy muttered to someone that that was what his own hat was patterned after. A face suddenly appeared on the cap. "Right, then!" it said, "Hmm, right! Okay, KITTY-PAW!"

With a big smile, Pepper walked to the Kitty-Paw table. Next, Catty called, "A longhaired golden hamster with a pink bow around her neck named Star!"

While the Sorting Cap mumbled to itself, Hamtaro looked over at the table where the teachers were sitting. Watching the sorting was a dark gray hamster. His fur was dusty and oily as if he'd never groomed himself in his life. Hamtaro felt his scar stinging and he let out a gasp of pain. "What's the matter?" asked Oxnard.

Hamtaro shook his head. "It's nothing, don't worry."

Finally, the cap called out, "FLUFFY-FUR!" and Star went to join her fellows. She sat next to a handsome hamster with panda-like markings who appeared to be a fourth-year. He was leaning over to the Chirpy-Wing table, talking to a pretty girl Ham wearing a scarf.

"A boy with gold and white fur and tiger stripes named Stanley!" Catty yelled.

Stan scrambled up onto the platform and sat on the stool. Though the Sorting Cap had just been grazing his ears, it called out, "SNAKY-SCALE!"

As Stan, looking very satisfied, went to sit with the other Snaky-Scales, Oxnard whispered, "There isn't a single mage who became evil who wasn't in Snaky-Scale!"

Next, Catty called, "A large white-furred boy with gray patches named Oxnard!"

Hamtaro's friend climbed onto the stool. The cap was placed on his head. Suddenly, it yelled, "Ah-ha! Another one of Kana's, aren't you? I know just what to do with you! KITTY-PAW!"

Oxnard took off the cap and went to his table, sitting near Kana's other hamsters, who Hamtaro remembered were Omar, Dexter, and Howdy. After that, Cappy, Lapis, and Stucky were sorted into Kitty-Paw; Lazuli was sorted into Chirpy-Wing; and so on. Then, Catty called, "A cream and orange male with a cat claw mark on his forehead named Hamtaro!"

Hamtaro left the crowd and climbed onto the stool, trying to ignore everyone's whispers. Catty placed the cap on his head. "Hmm, difficult," it murmured, "very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, yes, and a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you?"

"Not Snaky-Scale," whispered Hamtaro, "Not Snaky-Scale!"

"Not Snaky-Scale, eh? You could be great, you know. It's all here in your head, and Snaky-Scale will help you on the way to greatness, there's no doubt about that!"

"No, anything but Snaky-Scale!" Hamtaro was uncomfortably aware that the cap was speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.

"No?" the cap continued, "Better be... KITTY-PAW!"

The hamster breathed a sigh of relief as he walked to the Kitty-Paw table. There was a lot of cheering, especially from the other Kitty-Paws. Hamtaro took a seat near Omar and Oxnard. Elder-Ham stood up again. He raised his paws and said, "Let the feast... begin!"

Food suddenly covered the previously empty plates. Everyone began eating, several chatting between bites, including Stucky, who was telling about how his father was a Gerbil and his mother was a witch. Then Hamtaro saw the dark gray teacher chatting with Prof. Squirrel, who he recognized from the Bullfrog Pond. "Omar," he asked, "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Squirrel?"

"Oh," the Kitty-Paw with a turban said, "That's Professor Snap, head of Snaky-Scale house."

"What does he teach?"

"Potions, but everyone knows it's the Dark Arts he wants. He's been after Squirrel's job for years."

Hamtaro glanced at Snap suspiciously and resumed his meal. Suddenly a see-through hamster head popped out of a platter. The hamster who was just about to grab some stewed dandelion sprouts from the tray screamed. "Hello!" the head chirped, "How are you?" Everyone near the platter was leaning over to get a closer look. "Welcome to Kitty-Paw!"

The hamster was a ghost. Soon more started to pour in through the walls and the ceiling. A female in a lovely dress floated down to the Chirpy-Wing table while another ghost drifted up from the floor near Fluffy-Fur. Another holding a sword who looked as if he died when he was clawed by a cat glided down the Snaky-Scale table. Others floated around randomly. Then the hamster at Kitty-Paw's table rose out of the platter. "Hey, Sir Richard!" Omar called, "Did you have a nice summer?"

Sir Richard looked at him with annoyance. "Not at all! Once again, my request to join the Club of the Headless Hamster has been denied!"

He started to glide away when Oxnard called out, "I heard about you! You're Near-Decapitated Rick!"

"I prefer Sir Richard, if you don't mind!" the ghost said, annoyed again.

"Near-Decapitated!" yelled Pepper, "How can you just be almost decapitated?"

"Like this." Rick tilted his head to the side and it would've fallen of if it wasn't for a strip of fur holding it on like a door's hinge. Oxnard screamed while Pepper and Hamtaro had disgusted looks.

After dinner, Omar led the new Kitty-Paws to their dormitories. They were on what looked like the bottom floor of a tower with several staircases heading up to the top. "Be careful of the staircases," Omar warned, "They like to change."

As he said that a couple staircases changed their positions. He escorted them up a couple flights where a painting of a fat female Ham-Ham with pinkish fur hung from the wall. The lady in the picture moved a bit. "Password?" she asked.

Omar nodded. _"An egg."_

The Pink Ham, as she was named, swung to the side, revealing a doorway. The Kitty Paws went inside. This room looked like a living room. It had lots of fancy furniture and a fireplace. There were also two corridors leading in opposite directions. "This is the Kitty-Paw commonroom," Omar told the first years, "Boys, you reach your dormitories through the corridor on the left. Girls, the same on your right." After going over a couple more rules, it appeared to be time for bed.

The boys' dormitory was fairly nice. There were large beds with the most high-quality hamster bedding you could ever find. They were also surrounded by red curtains to make sure it stayed dark at night. In the middle of the dormitory between two beds, one of which was selected by Hamtaro, was a bench of sorts in front of a large window.

That night, Hamtaro sat on the bench while the other boys were sleeping. He softly petted his parakeet, who he called Morgan. Then he opened the window. Morgan chirped and flew out. A couple of green feathers floated in the wind. The parakeet flew excitedly around outside. Hamtaro then got back into bed, awaiting her return in the morning with the other birds at breakfast delivering mail.


	6. Bubbles and Broomsticks

An update at last! But I'll tell you ahead of time that this might be my last update for a while. I'm not quitting the story, don't worry! I just won't be able to get onto the Internet for a while. No biggie!

-----

Classes started the next morning. They didn't go that well. First of all, Hamtaro and Oxnard were late for Transfiguration. The two of them went storming into the classroom, where a gray cat appeared to be sleeping in the corner. "Whew!" Oxnard gasped, "Could you picture the look Catty would have if she saw we were late?"

The cat sat up, causing the two to jump. It pounced, morphing into the professor while traveling through the air. Prof. Catty landed in front of them. "That was pure genius!" yelped Oxnard.

"Thank you, Mr. Oxnard," said Catty, "but maybe I should turn either you or Hamtaro into a sundial. Maybe then one of you would be on time!"

"We got lost," Hamtaro said simply.

"Then maybe instead, a map! I'd expect you don't need one to find your seats!"

They took that to mean "shut up and sit down." They took their seats and were fairly quiet for the remainder of the class.

Potions class in the dungeon wasn't so great either. Before class started, everyone was chatting. Suddenly the door flew open and Prof. Snap loped into the room. Everyone immediately shut their mouths. "There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class!" he growled, heading for the front of the classroom, "Then again, I don't expect many of you to grasp the subtle science and exact art of potion-making... although there are some of you who possess the predisposition." Snap glanced at Stan, who, as usual, smirked.

"Teacher's pet!" hissed Stucky.

Snap glared at the little brown hamster lodged in a green tube. "What was that? If you have something to say, please share it with the class."

Stucky looked scared. "Um... I called Stan a teacher's pet."

"Very clever," said Snap sarcastically, "in case you haven't noticed, Mr. Stucky, as we are hamsters, we are all pets. Now keep your mouth shut unless you are called on for anything."

When the tiny brown hamster nodded, Professor Snap continued talking. "I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses." Hamtaro produced a quill and started writing this down. "I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death. However, there may be some of you who have come to Hamwarts already with abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough..." He narrowed his eyes at Hamtaro. "...To not pay attention!"

Hamtaro looked up. "If it isn't little Hamtaro," Snap said coldly, "our mage of the century." The orange hamster knew he was in huge trouble. "Now tell me, Hamtaro what would I get if I added the crushed petals of a sunflower to juice from a passion fruit and two sprigs of both mint and catnip?"

Pepper's paw flew in the air, but Hamtaro stayed silent.

"You don't know...? Well, let's try again. Where would you look, Hamtaro, if I asked you to find me a padparadscha?"

Hamtaro knew it was a kind of rock, but that was about it. Pepper was now waving her paw in the air.

Snap wasn't done. "And what is the difference between belladonna and deadly nightshade?" He ignored the fact that Pepper was out of her seat, waving her paw frantically.

"...I don't know, sir," the orange hamster was finally able to say.

"I see." The dark gray professor was staring hard at Hamtaro. "Fame isn't everything, is it, Mr. Hamtaro?"

Stan, who was sitting up front, turned his head and stared at Hamtaro with a look of satisfaction.

-----

"The scale of a newt and wing of a fairy, turn this water into juice of strawberry!" Stucky had one arm out of his tube and was flicking his wand over a wine glass. It was the next day and breakfast was almost over.

"What's Stucky supposed to be doing with that glass of water?" Hamtaro asked Oxnard.

"Turning it into strawberry juice. He actually did it yesterday before..."

Suddenly, there was a bang. Smoke was coming out of the glass and Stucky's fur was scorched. Everyone was laughing out loud. A strawberry shot out of the tip of Stucky's wand and landed with a splash in his cup. The hamster peered inside. "Hey, it worked!" he squeaked, "The strawberry's dissolving... The water's turning pink!"

All the other Kitty-Paws crowded around, holding out their glasses. "Alright, make a line, Ham-Hams!" cried Stucky.

What sounded like a finch chirped from the ceiling. "The mail's here!" yelled Oxnard.

The Kitty-Paws all sat back down, some of them gulping down delicious strawberry juice, as birds started to fill the air carrying packages and whatnot in their claws. When the birds were above their owners, they dropped whatever they were carrying into their paws. Morgan, as usual and as expected, didn't have anything, and fluttered around frolicking with someone's lorikeet. Cappy opened up a small package he had received. It contained a glass sphere with a blue flower floating in the middle. "Look!" Stucky said, pointing, "Cappy's got a Forget-Me-Not Bubble!"

A certain brown hamster with a bandana looked over at it. "I read about those! If you forget something, the petals turn red!"

Right then, the flower turned crimson. "The only problem is," said Cappy, "I can't remember what I forgot!"

A sparrow dropped a newspaper in front of Oxnard, but he ignored it and began opening up his other mail. "Can I borrow this?" Hamtaro asked with a paw on the newspaper.

"Sure."

Hamtaro scanned the front page and gasped. "There was a break-in at Batsclaws!"

Oxnard was munching on a huge sunflower seed that his owner Kana sent him. "Heke?"

"Listen!" Hamtaro read the article out loud. "'Thought to be the work of unknown dark Ham-Mages, there was an attempted theft on one of the vaults at the Ham-Wizard bank. The bats at Batsclaws checked the vault and confirmed that nothing was stolen. In fact, the vault in question, Leaf-Rock-Acorn, had been emptied earlier that exact same day.' Weird, that's the vault me and Boss went to!"

Pepper, who was sitting nearby, looked concerned.

-----

The Kitty-Paw and Snaky-Scale first years were out in the Hamwarts courtyard in rows later in the day. Each Ham-Ham stood next to a broomstick lying on the ground. A hamster with a cream and white pelt walked between the two rows. "Good afternoon, class!" she said.

"Good afternoon, Madam Hawk," echoed the students.

"Welcome to your first flying lesson. Now, what I want you to do first is place your right paw over your broom and say 'up!'"

There were loud choruses of "UP!" all over the courtyard. On Hamtaro's first try, the broom flew up into his paw. Stan was the next to succeed. Others weren't as lucky. Pepper was chanting, "Up! Up! Up!" impatiently, but all her broom did was roll around. When Oxnard yelled "UP!" his broom whacked him on the snout.

It took a few minutes, but soon every Ham-Ham was holding a broomstick. Madam Hawk gave them their next instructions. "Now that you all have a broom, I want you to climb on, point the handle of the broom up, hover for a moment, and then touch back down. On my whistle."

She blew into a seed-shell whistle. Right before anyone could start, Cappy left the floor, muttering worriedly. "Mr. Cappy?" Madam Hawk said. The green-capped hamster went higher. "Mr. Cappy!" Hawk called.

Cappy had totally lost control over his broom. It zoomed high into the air, smacking numerous times into a wall. Then it glided over the rooftops. When Cappy took his paws off the broom handle to hold his cap to his head so it wouldn't blow off, the broom dipped. However, there wasn't any rooftop below to land on. It dove off the edge of the roof, right toward the lifted snout of a rat statue. The next thing the onlookers knew, the broomstick was shooting through the air without a rider; Cappy's Hamwarts robe had caught on the statue. The Ham-Ham then slid out of his cloak, but his cap snagged on a torch holder. Finally, Cappy slipped out of his cap, which luckily flipped into the air and landed on the ground along with its owner. The Forget-Me-Not Bubble that was being kept inside the hamster's precious green hat rolled out onto the lawn.

Madam Hawk bounded over to check on Cappy. When she tried to help him up, he wailed, "Ow!"

After looking him over a few moments, Hawk muttered, "It looks like your paw's broken. Come on, let's get you to the hospital wing." She then said to the whole class, "Now, I want everyone to stay on the ground! If I catch a single broom out of the air, the rider will be out of Hamwarts before they can say 'Sky-Scavenge!'"

She didn't catch Oxnard grab his broomstick, jump up in the air, and say, "Sky-Scavenge."

When the two had left, Stan noticed the Forget-Me-Not Bubble sparkling in the sun. He picked it up and turned it over again and again in his paws. "Did you see the look on that guy's face?" he chuckled, "Maybe if he actually used this thing, he'd try to fall on his head and let that stupid hat of his break his fall!"

The Snaky-Scales chuckled and the Kitty-Paws growled. Hamtaro stepped forward. "Give me that, Stan!"

The tiger striped hamster looked at Hamtaro. "Nah, I think I'll leave it somewhere for Cappy to find." He grabbed his broom, which left the ground. Stan was pretty good; he was able to control his broom even before he'd climbed onto it. "How about on the roof?" he called when he was about twenty feet high, "What's the matter, Hamtaro? Can't reach this far?"

Hamtaro was ready to mount his broom when Pepper glided up next to him. "Hamtaro, no way!" she warned, "You heard what Hawk said and besides, you don't even know how to fly!" The orange hamster didn't care. He boarded his broomstick and took off. "What an idiot."

He was soon eye level with Stan, who was tossing the Bubble up and catching it repeatedly. "Give me that, Stan, or I'll knock you off your broom!"

Stan smiled nastily. "Well, suit yourself!" He flung the Forget-Me-Not Bubble as hard as he could before zipping back to the ground.

The Kitty-Paw hamster flew after it. It was going a lot farther than he would've thought, since he didn't think Stan looked THAT strong. Right before it hit a window, he caught it. He smiled broadly and tossed it into the air before catching it again. Hamtaro swooped back down to rejoin the class, but what he didn't know was that Professor Catty had been watching through the window.

While he was being congratulated by the Kitty-Paws and glared at by the Snaky-Scales, the gray cat hamster appeared practically out of nowhere. "Hamtaro," she said quietly, "I need to have a word with you." Now the Kitty-Paws were glaring and the Snaky-Scales were smiling. Hamtaro nervously followed her inside the school.

They stopped outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "Squirrel, may I borrow spikes for a moment?" Catty asked.

Prof. Squirrel, who was holding a daddy longlegs, nodded. "Y-yes!"

At the mention of spikes, Hamtaro cringed and closed his eyes. When nothing happened, he opened them again and saw that a tall mahogany hamster was standing next to Catty. With a wave of relief, he figured that "spikes" must've been his name and not an object of torture.

"Hamtaro, this is Spikes," the professor introduced, "captain of your house Sky-Scavenge team." She looked at the other hamster. "Spikes, I've found you a new Hif-Hif!"

-----

"A Hif-Hif!" Oxnard gasped when he and Hamtaro were walking down the halls later, "But first years never get on the house team! You must be the youngest player in..."

"In a century," finished Hamtaro with just a hint of pride, "according to Catty."

Howdy and Dexter dashed up behind them. "Congratulations for getting on the team, Hamtaro!" the brown and white hamster with a Southwestern accent chirped, "Spikes just told us!"

"Howdy and Dexter are on the team, too," Oxnard explained, "They're Tack-Qs."

Hamtaro wasn't quite sure yet why he, Howdy, and Dexter were the team's "sniff" and "tackles" just yet. "Our job's to make sure you don't get beaten up too bad!" Dexter chuckled.

"Yeah, but they actually beat each other up once last year," Oxnard whispered, "It was during a match against Fluffy-Fur and they started arguing over which one of them this girl called Pashmina was looking at. It was probably actually the other team's Hif-Hif she was staring at, though."

"Sky-Scavenge's a rough game," Dexter continued, not hearing.

"Brutal!" added Howdy, "But no one's died in years. Someone might vanish every now and then..."

"But they'll turn up in a month or two!"

Laughing, the two Tack-Qs walked off. "Don't listen to them," the gray-spotted hamster reassured his friend, "Sky-Scavenging is great!"

"But what if I embarrass myself?"

"You won't make a fool of yourself," said Pepper. Her sudden appearance made the two boys jump. "It's in your blood."

She led them to a trophy cabinet and stood to the side. Hamtaro noticed one shining seed shell reading, "Lemur, a gray and white hamster. Kitty-Paw's Hif-Hif." A hamster was etched into it with markings on his fur identical to Hamtaro's. "Wow, Hamtaro!" Oxnard gasped, "You didn't tell me your dad was a Hif-Hif, too!"

"I... I didn't know!"

-----

That evening, the three of them were ascending a staircase to get to the Kitty-Paw commonroom. "It's scary!" Oxnard muttered, referring to Pepper, "She knows more about you than you do!"

Hamtaro quietly replied, "Who doesn't?"

Then the staircase shook. "What's happening?" the orange hamster asked nobody in particular.

It started to move a little. "The staircases change," replied Pepper, "Remember?"


	7. Hovera Levitato!

At last, an update! Enjoy!

-----

After a few moments, the staircase stopped in front of a big wooden door. "Let's go," Hamtaro said.

"Before the staircase moves again!" agreed Oxnard.

Hamtaro pushed the huge door open and the three hamsters, including Pepper, entered a dark hallway. There was a torch a few feet away from where they stood, but it wasn't lit. The chamber smelled dusty and the ceiling was probably covered with spider webs; it was hard to tell in the dark. "Do you get the feeling we shouldn't be here?" whispered Hamtaro.

"We're not supposed to be here!" Pepper snapped, "This is the third floor. It's forbidden!"

The torch lit itself suddenly. "Let's get out of here," muttered Hamtaro.

Before they even turned around, they heard a meow. When they did, they saw a fluffy brown tabby kitten sitting in the doorway. The kitten's name was Pearl, and wherever Pearl was, the Hamwarts caretaker was sure to follow. "It's Flick's cat!" gasped Pepper.

Hamtaro gave the wisest advice you can give if you're about to be caught by Mr. Flick. "Run!" he shouted.

They took off, muttering, "Badda-badda-badda," until they came to a door. Hamtaro tried to push it open, but he shook his head. "It's locked!"

The girl hamster pointed her wand at the lock. She whispered, "Sesam-Erina!" and pushed the door open.

The Ham-Hams slipped inside. Oxnard repeated, "Sesam-Erina...?"

"It's in the Book of Basic Ham-Chat Spells," Pepper told the spotted hamster, "Chapter seven."

Back in the hallway, Flick was walking away with his kitten after finding the area empty. "I thought that door was locked," said Oxnard.

Pepper nodded. "It _was_ locked!"

Hamtaro's eyes opened wider than usual as he saw what else was in the room. "And for a good reason!"

The other two looked in the same direction as the orange Ham-Ham. A big black and brown dog was lying on the floor, sleeping. It wasn't the size of the dog that shocked them; the dog was a Cerberus. All three of its heads yawned and blinked open their eyes. All three hamsters were too scared to do anything but stare. The dog's head lifted off the floor as the giant animal stood up. As soon as it saw the wayward Ham-Hams, it growled loudly. The hamsters screamed at the top of their lungs and ran back through the door. One of the heads followed, but ended up caught between the doorway and the door as Hamtaro pushed it closed.

"What do they think they're doing?" Oxnard cried as the three Ham-Hams entered the Kitty-Paw commonroom, "Keeping a thing like that locked up in a school!"

"You don't use your eyes, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?" asked Pepper.

"I wasn't looking at its feet!" the spotted hamster screamed, "I was a bit busy with its heads! Maybe you didn't notice; there were three!"

"It was standing on a trapdoor, which means it wasn't there by accident," continued Pepper, just barely losing her cool, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed before you come up with another clever idea to get us killed... or worse, expelled!"

The female hamster pivot-turned around and headed to the girls' dormitory. Oxnard's head was still turned in the direction she exited, but he was looking at Hamtaro. "She needs to sort out her priorities."

Hamtaro nodded, still wide-eyed.

-----

Hamtaro and Spikes were walking to the center of the courtyard carrying a trunk. Then they put it down. "Sky-Scavenging is easy enough to understand," Spikes said, "Each team has three Badda-baddas, two Tack-Qs, one Fend-D, and a Hif-Hif. That's you." He opened the trunk and produced a walnut. "See this walnut? The Badda-baddas need to get it through one of the other team's three hoops. The Fend-D – that's me – defends the hoops."

The orange hamster noticed two gray, round objects that were chained into the trunk. "What are those?" he asked, pointing.

Spikes hesitated. "You'll want this." He gave Hamtaro a heavy, steel baseball bat. Then he unchained one of the gray spheres.

It darted away from the trunk on its own, and then zipped back toward Hamtaro. He grabbed the bat with one paw and smacked the sphere hard. It flew off over a rooftop. "Not bad, Hamtaro," Spikes commented, "You wouldn't be a bad Tack-Q." Then a black dot appeared, flying at them over the same roof. "Careful, now. It's coming back..."

The sphere this time aimed for Spikes. Just as the rust-colored hamster gripped it with both paws, it collided with his chest and knocked him over. He didn't let go, though, and forced it back into the trunk where he chained it back down. "What was that?" asked Hamtaro.

"A boulder, of course. Nasty little nuisances. But you are a Hif-Hif. The only thing I want you to worry about is this..." Spikes bent over the chest and opened a small compartment. Inside was a small, shining golden seed, which he took out and showed to Hamtaro. "This is the Golden Acorn."

Hamtaro took it from Spikes' paw and looked it over. It was tiny for an acorn, and it was round, not oblong. It was very pretty, though. "I like this one!"

"You like it now," Spikes said, smirking, "But wait till you see it when we're playing. It's really fast and almost impossible to see. The whole speed thing is helped by the fact it's torpedo-shaped."

"No, it's not."

The Fend-D ignored him. "Your job is to catch this, and the game's over... If you catch this, Hamtaro, we win."

Suddenly, the small seed did melt into the shape of an acorn, including the cap. It rose out of the young hamster's paw and floated around his head. He smiled. "Neat!"

-----

It was time for Charms class with Professor Snowy. This class was full of what Snap had called, "Foolish wand-waving and silly incantations." If you walked next to the desks while the students were practicing a spell, you would likely lose an eye. Today, each student had a feather on their desk.

"Today," chirped Prof. Snowy, who looked, as his name implied, like a snowball with a face, because of his long white fur, "we will be practicing one of a Mage's most elementary skills: levitation, or making objects fly! We shall be using the technique we have been practicing. Remember; the twirl, wave, and flick! Everyone?"

The entire class took out their wands, twirled them in a circle, quickly waved them left and right, and then flicked them. They parroted in unison, "Twirl, wave, and flick."

"Very good. Now..." He cleared his throat. "Hovera Levitato! Class?'

"He almost never uses complete sentences," Oxnard muttered to Hamtaro, who nodded. Stan saw that they weren't practicing the spell and raised his paw, which they noticed, and said with the rest of the class in unison, "Hovera Levitato!"

Snowy told them to all practice themselves, and soon the room was echoing with "Hovera Levitato." Not a single feather moved.

Oxnard focused hard on his feather. "HO-vuhr-ah... Levvy-TAYTO!" He twirled his wand, waved it with a huge motion, and flicked it repeatedly until Pepper grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Stop," she groaned, "You're going to poke someone's eye out! And besides," continued the brown hamster, "You're getting it wrong. It's 'Huh-vare-ah Levih-tah-to,' not 'Levvy-Tayto."

"Well, fine then!" Oxnard squinted and put down his wand, actually somewhat disappointed rather than angry, "You do it, if you're an expert! Go ahead!"

Pepper smirked. "Hovera Levitato!" she said clearly, moving her wand.

The feather stirred, and then lifted right off her desk. It was about one and a half hamster-lengths in the air when the Ham-Hams still trying to get the spell right noticed, stopped reciting the incantation, and stared. Snowy gasped joyfully. "Look here, everyone! Miss Pepper's done it!"

Oxnard was not amused. He wasn't angry, but a bit embarrassed.

"'It's Levih-TAH-to, not Levvy-TAY-to!'" Oxnard mimicked as he, Hamtaro, Stucky, and Cappy were walking to their next class, "Geez, she's a nightmare! It's no wonder she doesn't have any friends!"

That wasn't very like Oxnard. Hamtaro figured he wasn't very happy about being corrected. Little did they know, Pepper was walking right behind them when the gray-spotted Ham-Ham decided to say that. She stormed past the boys and glanced over her shoulder at them. Her eyes were turning red.

"I think she heard you," the orange hamster muttered to Oxnard.


End file.
